Abstraction In C++

Abstraction is an important concept in object-oriented programming, and it refers to the practice of representing complex systems or ideas in a simplified and abstracted way. This is done by hiding the implementation details of a class or function from its users, and only exposing a high-level interface that can be used to interact with the system.

Let's say you have a toy car that has a remote control. The remote control has several buttons that you can press to make the car move in different directions. You don't need to know how the car's motor works or how the remote control communicates with the car. All you need to know is which button to press to make the car move in the direction you want.

Similarly, in programming, we can use abstraction to simplify the way we interact with complex systems or objects. For example, we might define a class that represents a bank account, and provide methods that allow us to deposit or withdraw money from the account, check the account balance, and so on. The implementation details of the class, such as how the account balance is stored or how the transactions are processed, are hidden from the user. The user only needs to know how to interact with the public interface of the class.

Here's an example of abstraction in C++:

cCopy codeclass BankAccount {
private:
    double balance;
public:
    BankAccount(double initialBalance) {
        balance = initialBalance;
    }
    void deposit(double amount) {
        balance += amount;
    }
    void withdraw(double amount) {
        if (balance >= amount) {
            balance -= amount;
        } else {
            cout << "Insufficient funds!" << endl;
        }
    }
    double getBalance() const {
        return balance;
    }
};

int main() {
    BankAccount account(1000.0);
    account.deposit(500.0);
    account.withdraw(200.0);
    cout << "Balance: " << account.getBalance() << endl;
    return 0;
}

In this example, we define a BankAccount class that represents a bank account. The implementation details of the class, such as how the account balance is stored or how the transactions are processed, are hidden from the user. The user can interact with the public interface of the class by depositing or withdrawing money from the account, and checking the account balance. This simplifies the way we interact with the bank account, and allows us to focus on the high-level functionality of the system without worrying about the details of how it works.